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Formaplex enjoys boost to production capacity

Street Crane has helped a leading component manufacturer to boost production at a new 120,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Portsmouth.

Formaplex, which makes specialist components for the automotive, defence, aerospace, marine and industrial sectors, selected Street to supply and install overhead cranes at its new Voyager Park factory.

The lifting equipment includes a 30-tonne double girder, 5-tonne single girder crane and 132m gantry system. In use 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the cranes lift and position injection mould tooling into presses. A total of 16 mould presses are in operation, producing three million moulded components a year such as dashboards, centre consoles and complete bumper systems, predominantly for the automotive industry.

The facility operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and produces three million moulded components per year / Picture: Street Crane

Chris Carter, operations director at Formaplex said: “We’ve had a strong relationship with Street Crane since they installed our first crane in 2005. The equipment has proved to be extremely reliable and as our business is so dependent on precise lifting, we selected Street Crane again to supply and install cranes for our brand new factory facility.

“We’ve been very impressed by Street’s technical expertise, particularly during the installation process and its after sales preventative maintenance service which will ensure that cranes are maintained to a high standard. We now have a total of eight Street cranes across four manufacturing facilities which are vital for a vast range of operations.”

Chris Lindley-Smith, sales director for Street commented: “These are high performance cranes featuring modern Street ZX hoists, providing Formaplex with the latest lifting technology, offering maximum reliability and minimal maintenance. In such a demanding environment, this type of technology is essential to ensure that production remains as efficient and safe as possible.”

The new technical centre ‘Voyager Park’ has increased capacity by 50% and means Formplex now has operations spanning 270,000 sq ft across four sites. The new facility will meet a growing demand globally for lightweight moulded components and incorporates in-house finishing, assembly and metrology departments.